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November 7, 2014

Solicitation Alert: LitFire Publishing

This post has been updated.NOTE: LitFire is also doing business as Amelia Publishing and Amelia Book Company.

A few weeks ago, I began hearing from writers who'd been solicited, out of the blue, by a company called LitFire Publishing. In some cases by phone, in others by email, a LitFire "consultant" claimed to have received or seen information about the writers' books (or even to have read them), and wanted to offer a wonderful marketing opportunity--for, of course, a four-figure fee.

Founded in 2008, LitFire allows authors to skip the hassles of traditional publishing. The company started out as a publisher of digital books. With hundreds of published titles and more than 50 publishing partners, we have learned how to succeed and soar in the eBook market. In 2014, LitFire expanded its horizon by offering self-publishing. Today, we offer all the services you would expect from a traditional publishing house – from editorial to design to promotion. Our goal is to help independent authors and self-publishers bring their book production and marketing goals to fruition.

In fact, at least four of LitFire's "consultants"--Portia Peterson, Tori Mesh, KC Normanns, and Mark Advent (also see the screenshots at the bottom of this post)--are or were employees of Author Solutions imprints. And LitFire's publishing agreement bears many similarities to an older AuthorHouse agreement (from 2012; the most recent agreement, which is much more complicated, was revised in 2014). Compare, for instance, AuthorHouse's Clause 18, Termination by Service Provider, to the last paragraph of LitFire's Clause 14, Refunds and Work Termination.

But there are reasons other than possible Author Solutions connections to be wary of this company.

- False or conflicting claims. Of the "hundreds of published titles" and "more than 50 publishing partners" claimed in LitFire's description of itself, there is no trace.

Eight books appear on Litfire's website, only one of which seems actually to have been published by LitFire. That one shows up on Amazon, along with just two others. Afewmoresurface with a websearch (interestingly, these also show up--with different ISBNs--as having been published by Author Solutions imprints). All in all, that's seven titles. Total.

LitFire also appears to be confused about how long it's been in business. Its website claims a 2008 founding date, but its URL was only registered in June of this year. On the other hand, according to one of its email communications, it's been around for 8 years, which would push its founding date back to 2006.

- Illiterate written materials. Most of LitFire's website, while it won't win any prizes for business communication, doesn't read too badly. But the LitFire correspondence I've seen...yikes. For example, this email from "Senior Publishing and Marketing Consultant" Tori Mesh:

The most charitable thing I can say is that it reads as if it were written by someone for whom English is not a first language. Tori's resume includes a current or former stint at AuthorHouse UK; we do know that a big portion of Author Solutions business is outsourced to the Philippines, and that Philippine staff use American or British-sounding aliases, presumably to make it seem as if they actually work at AS headquarters in Bloomington, Indiana, but actually resulting in some very odd-sounding names. (See, for instance, this recent Author Solutions marketing pitch.)

When can one’s writing writhen out a reader’s metaphysical standpoint?

How about this: Somebody wrote a book saying that the laws the world is following today: spiritual, political, logical are but a rehash of the Primo genial world that the Primo genial human beings have cleaved to and everything everyone believed in that world turned out to be flawed and destructive, thereby the First Apocalypse. He doesn’t claim himself a Messiah or a prophet or whatnot but proves his evidences authentic, like the codex of that first world, every inch of it intact.

I did not make that up.

- Plagiarism. A solicitation email from "Senior Marketing and Publishing Consultant" Mark Advent (formerly of Trafford) is a peculiar mix of the kinds of ESL mistakes found in Tori Mesh's email and relatively fluent passages. There's a reason for this: Mark has borrowed the good bits from others, without bothering with attribution.

So what is LitFire? Despite the many Author Solutions connections and similarities, I don't suspect that LitFire actually has anything to do with Author Solutions itself. AS is a big company, and it has no need to be coy about what it does. If LitFire were a new AS imprint, we'd know it. I think it's far more likely that LitFire is an Author Solutions clone, created by former or current AS workers in hopes of siphoning off a share of their employer's business.

Either way, one thing is clear. If you hear from LitFire, just say no.

UPDATE 11/11/14: Either as a result of this post or of the accompanying discussion at Absolute Write (which includes a lot more speculation and information about possible LitFire staff names and aliases), changes have begun to appear on the LitFire website. I've therefore appended a bunch of screenshots at the very bottom of this post.

UPDATE 8/8/15: Ha! LitFire has decided to come clean about its Philippine roots. Well, sort of. According to this recent press release, Litfire has decided to "tap into the Philippine global IT industry." It says it has only outsourced "parts of its design and lead generation activities", and still claims to be "headquartered" in Georgia. Yeah, right. It seems this blog post has had an impact (I know this also by how regularly it gets trolled).

UPDATE 1/17/17: As the comments below will attest, LitFire is still at it. And it seems like they're not even trying all that that hard. Today I got this email, apparently meant for someone else:

Good day Mark,

How are you ? I hope you are doing great. I am Kate Avila, Senior Consultant with LitFire Publishing. I have been trying to get in touch with you in regard to your Book Project. I’m hoping you could get in touch with me as soon as you can. We’d like to know if you are still pursuing the book because we would like to help you.

Feel free to visit our website to know more information about us https://litfirepublishing.com/

UPDATE 2/23/17: I received this lengthy complaint today, from someone who made the mistake of buying one of LitFire's marketing packages. It explains exactly why LitFire and its ilk are a ripoff.

Writers beware LitFire Publishing. Please share this post to protect fledgling authors, as many people have called BookExpo to complain about this company already and have tried to warn writers on the internet. This is my personal experience.This publishing house which seems legitimate, inconspicuous, and appears to have evidence backing up such claims, is nothing more than a ploy to take advantage of new authors. Litfire promises a marketing campaign of either Deluxe or Ultimate for $2,000 or $2,300. The original promise of these packages was a booth at Book Expo America in NYC, where major publishing houses and 200,000 attendees (as well as authors such as Scott Kelly and Stephen King) would be present and where an author thus, through them, could begin to fortify his or her portfolio, and the ability for the author to come and help man that booth if desired (although not necessary). If purchasing the Ultimate package, LitFire promised an ad in the author catalog given out to all attendees as well as a full spread in "Wayfairer magazine" and 100 "gift cards" to give away to people at the fair and encourage them to buy the book. For the Deluxe, there were no "Gift cards" promised nor author catalog, but the author would receive a quarter spread in "Wayfairer magazine." With both packages, a 15 minute web internet radio interview over the phone was promised and a press release would be sent out for over 5,000 media outlets.These promises, however, are no more than bait. At the last moment, my LitFire representative claimed "misunderstanding" and said that I would have to separately procure a pass to attend the event, even to go to that booth (where I specifically got a very different answer before, an answer which claimed that my badge was included in the total cost). In a previous follow up before my representative claimed "misunderstanding," he specifically said that I would not have to pay ANY admission or undergo the application to attend the Book Expo, that it was all set, and that once I paid I would be assigned a financial marketing assistant who would tell me where to procure my pass and where to meet up. Further, once I asked how much money was on the "gift cards," it was revealed that they aren't gift cards at all, but advertising cards with QR codes to better direct people to buy the author's book from Amazon or another major site. The name "gift card" was misleading. Another change was in the "press release to 5,000 media outlets." At first, a "full marketing campaign" was promised. Upon further questioning, it turns out that this "full marketing campaign" is just bait, and they are simply referring to the booth at the Expo, advertising the book by genre to passersby, and the press release. Even worse, at the last minute, although the phrase "over 5,000" was used multiple times, my representative changed the number to "over 100 media outlets." No specific media outlets were specified, but that question was dodged.The worst crime, however, is the exploitation of the name "Wayfairer Magazine." Since these baits are sent over the phone, if one were to look up Wayfarer Magazine (different spelling), one would find a reputable literary magazine. I called this magazine and found out that a full color spread costs $3,600, a B&W full spread costs $2,900, and that even the quarter spreads in color exceeded $1,000 and in B&W neared $1,000. LitFire's promise sounded like a fantastic deal.At the last minute, upon request, I was sent PDF photos of "WayFairer Magazine." It is not a real magazine at all. In fact, it can't be found on google anywhere--only in the email, and is created by LitFire publishing themselves. The magazine itself is fake. Litfire banks on authors looking up Wayfarer Magazine when hearing the name over the phone since it isn't spelled anywhere except in what I was sent. In fact, when I asked my representative to spell the magazine name specifically since there are multiple magazines with similar names (like Wayfare, Wayfair, etc.), and I wanted to be sure, he completely dodged the question. He banked on me being more entranced by the color photos of the full book spreads, which look very visually appealing and seem to market the books very well, and not noticing the tiny spelling difference between "WayFairer" and "WayFarer"LitFire publishing is a scam--no more than bait to exploit the aspirations of new authors. Although they seem to check out at first, the true colors will bleed through upon deeper investigation and numerous calls to different corporations.Although there are many "Beware LitFire!" cries on the internet, none actually explain why to do so, and make it sound more like an overpriced service than the complete illusory bait that it is. Do not trust LitFire, and do not pay them attention at the Book Expo America.

UPDATE 1/25/18: LitFire is one of a growing number of similar companies that appear to be Author Solutions imitators, staffed and, in many cases, started up by ex-Author Solutions call center employees in the Philippines.

These companies share a cluster of characteristics, including aggressive solicitation, re-publishing offers (often to authors who've used the various Author Solutions imprints), claims of skill and experience that don't check out (or can't be checked because they're so vague), websites and written materials full of English-language errors, and an emphasis on selling junk marketing services (which is where these outfits make the bulk of their profit).

UPDATE 1/26/18: LitFire has apparently decided that its best defense is to troll me. A few days ago, this appeared at PissedConsumer.com (given the quality of grammar and syntax, its authorship should be obvious):

Oh noes! My evil sekrit has been exposed! Then, today, this comment was left here (again, bad English is the giveaway):

Bad blogs, bad blogs, whatcha gonna do?

UPDATE 6/22/18: This is funny. Author Amanda Taylor writes that she has been threatened with legal action over an article on LitFire that she wrote a year ago that references this post. Here's the threat, verbatim:

As Secretary of Office of Attorney General Chris Carr, I’m contacting you about Case raised against this website and persons Ann Crispin, Michael Capobianco, Richard White and Victoria Strauss regarding a criminal act against Accrispin.blogspot.com and named persons websites. Under investigation of breaking rules of good practice and monopoly in Publishing, we found this post on your website violate some rules. The URL is http://newbieauthorsguide.com/2017/06/16/litfire-publishing-a-chip-off-the-ole-author-solutions-block/ We are expecting soonest action from your side or the website and persons behind this will be subject of prosecution according to laws in the USA. If you have additional questions please call us at (404) 656-3300 or Fax: (404) 657-8733

Ava Liam

chriscarr_secretary@law.georgia.gov

Can you spell BOGUS? Once again, the tortured English is a dead giveaway. LitFire folks, you are really embarrassingly bad trolls.

UPDATE 10/31/18: One of the many junk marketing techniques employed by LitFire and companies like it is the publication of a magazine that's supposedly distributed at book fairs. These magazines are filled with book ads, interviews, and articles for which authors pay a premium price. They have no independent existence apart from the companies that publish them.

LitFire's version of this lucrative ripoff is WayFairer Magazine. Here's the issue produced for this year's Frankfurt Book Fair. Keep in mind that the authors who've bought ads in this rag have likely also paid for display in LitFire's Frankfurt booth (book fair display packages are another favorite junk marketing offering). To further the illusion of respectability, there's even an interview with a real industry professional: Elinor Bagenal, rights director for Chicken House Books, who I'm sure had no idea she was talking with a predator.

- GoToPublish.com. I got this info via an anonymous tip, and have confirmed it. Among other things, LitFire and GoToPublish have identical privacy policies, terms of service, and publishing agreements. Other content is also suspiciously similar; compare, for example, LitFire's and GoToPublish's "editorial" offerings.

UPDATE 1/21/19: The LitFire troll strikes again, in a comment left on this post yesterday. I am an abomination to the Publishing Industry! Glad to be of service.

UPDATE 1/27/19: A helpful commenter has pointed out LitFire's secret alter ego: ClickableBrand Inc in Cebu City (I've found information that independently verifies this). As with LitFire, ClickableBrand's website shows a fake US address. Its Facebook page is filled with job ads for sales reps, web designers, copy editors, content writers, and more, along with sometimes bizarre photos of social activities.

144 comments
:

Anonymous
said...

Jill Bennett's other blog post is almost as weird:

"Presumably, authors are considered lucky enough to get a contract from a traditional publisher because they bring years of design, marketing, PR contacts, and other important relationships to the table. How many of those relationships will be leveraged for the release of a book by a not-very-known author? Probably not many. More typically, the traditional publisher eventually breaks the bad news to the author that it doesn’t have the budget for a marketing campaign or book tour. And this is all comes down to the as bad news.

He didn’t get through the gate. The guard was stiff.

Why? You don’t really believe that they don’t have the budget do you? Why of course, their budget is reserved only for the likes of King, Coelho and some Celebrity writers like Oprah or Ellen. This, they are assured that how much ever they spent on the book’s printing and marketing, a hundredfold is coming back to them. This isn’t to badmouth traditional pubbing. This article is simply minding their business and how they run it. It’s alright to care, isn’t it? On a higher contrast, this is not to proclaim the other face of publishing as the better resort. Don’t get lost right there. This is merely to discuss about a traditional publisher’s limitations and how it affects the main characters in this industry."

Excellent reporting! I agree that LitFire is a self-entity but that it cops the biz tactics of AS, which is not a good thing. I have to add, in mypersonal exp. with LF, the marketing girl (Portia) was overly flirty with me (not very professional) and recoiled when asked simple questions in return and not once offered to show me their work, she apparently just expected me to hand her a lot of cash based on whatever she said. Be aware, beware, of these guys.

I would run screaming from anyone who sent me an email so badly written, claiming to help me with professional publishing services. It's like someone driving up to you in a car with parts falling off it, asking if you'd like to buy their services as an expert mechanic.

The quote at the bottom of Tori Mesh's email is like a giant wink at the reader: "a bad novel tells us the truth about its author." So too does a bad email.

I've left two comments on LitFire's Facebook politely asking them to explain why the "clients" who provided glowing testimonials on the company's website don't seem to be real people. Both comments have been ignored, which suggests to me that they don't even look at their virtually dead Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Thanks to the heads-up. I was contacted by them out of the blue with glowing words for my book (they probably just read the 5 reviews I had on Amazon). I was suspicious because Gary Norman pressed hard and fast, dissed Amazon for making the book so expensive, and promised me the world. If my book is not selling it is because I am either a lousy marketer, writing about something the target readers don't, or both (in my view). He learned, during the conversation, that I was retired from pediatrics, was on a fixed income, and was currently suffering from the latest of my orthopedic disasters (s/p polio class of '52), a compound fracture of both femurs, and it not deter him one wit. Of course, he hadn't gotten into my projected financial " obligations. He just went to my website docbriley.com and sharpened his knives (or so I sensed. Aloha all, John M. Briley, Jr

June 2, 2015: "Portia" left a message on my phone this morning in which she mangled the titles of my two most recent books by conflating them into one, and never said exactly what the call was about. A few minutes later, here I am verifying my conclusions about what she was up to.

I am glad this information was available. I just received a call today from Portia. (don't forget my name, she said at the end of the call!) It seemed kind of weird because while my book has done well in its category of self published work, it is not a blockbuster hit by any means. Her words of praise were too glowing. Although authors wish to hear this type of praise, the realist in me had bells going off. Warning bells, that is. So while still on the phone with Portia, I googled LitFire and found this post. Thanks. That email that is coming, might just hit the round file.

I received a call A few moments ago from a Portia Rollins. After reading this I realize just how bad they are scamming, as one of their main marketers uses different names. I was told that my book was very interesting and that they had read it she then proceeded to say that it had a great story to it. when I asked if she enjoyed the dancing firefighters scene, she then proceeded to say yes that was a great scene. Guess what there are no dancing firefighters in my book. So obviously full of crap. Have a nice day Litfire I will be reporting furiously.

Thanks for this information. I received a phone call from a woman at LitFire with the glowing reports from "book review scouts" about my book and offering to display at the upcoming international book fair in Guadalupe. They originally wanted more than $600. I told them I didn't have that in the budget. The representative then offered a scholarship which got the cost down to $247.00 including a press release sent to some social media sites and promotion of the book at the fair. She sounded very sincere and an initial check of their website seemed to indicate that they were a legitimate publisher. They even (supposedly) had an A rating from a better business bureau and not negative comments from customers. My book was self-published by a POD publisher in Minneapolis and has been out for awhile with lots of promotion, mostly at my expense. I did give consideration to the LitFire( a great name by the way) offer. I consulted with a co-author and book distributor and longtime colleague I have worked with on my books. She did not recommend accepting this deal for many reasons. Within a few minutes of our phone conversation she sent me this expose site about the publisher. It came just in time to help me make my decision that I would not accept their offer.

Thanks for your comment, Burt (and thanks to everyone else who has commented here). I'm glad you were able to avoid entanglement with LitFire and their worthless "marketing" services.

Just as a point of info--an "A" rating with the BBB should be taken with a grain of salt, at least for a publisher. An accredited business receives an A+ by default, and all it means is that they are willing to respond to complaints by consumers. Also, for whatever reason, writers rarely seem to make complaints with the BBB.

Thanks for posting this information. We were contacted by "Gary" this morning. It felt suspicious because he offered to show our book at the Guadalajara book fair for only $247. I told him we would review the information and get back with him. He went on to do another sales pitch. I reiterated we would reveiw the information and get back with him. "Gary" then asked me to call back no matter what I decided to do. Of course, I won't be calling back. Thanks again everyone!!

I was contacted by a Portia Williams that promised world wide pubication and an amazing marketing package with a price tag of $2,099. I am a firt time author and need a great publisher. Where dobi even begin? I am so thankful I came across this article. Can anyone help me please

Before you go any farther, it'd be a good idea to spend some time learning about the publishing process. This is vital not just because it'll help you make better and more informed choices, but because it'll keep you out of the hands of scammers and amateurs. It will also help you focus your research, so you can identify agents and/or publishers that are right for you, or decide whether self-publishing might be a better choice.

My suggestion would be to do some reading before you start your search for publication--and not on the Internet, where there are fantastic resources but also a huge amount of misinformation. Go to a bookstore or library and spend some time in the section where books on writing are shelved. There are many good basic introductions to the publishing process--you should be able to find one that works for you. Also have a look at my blog post, Learning the Ropes, which gives more detailed advice and suggests many other resources.

Please don't skip the learning process. It's tedious at the outset but will save you an enormous amount of time and grief in the long run.

Jill Bennett of Litfire publishing has started linking blog posts in a LinkedIn discussion group I frequent -- Book Writing, Self Publishing, and Marketing for Business People. Though the posts are not very useful they certainly come across as having been written by someone with good English. The profile photo at https://www.linkedin.com/in/litfire is an obvious stock image. So it looks like the company has found itself a new "Jill."

I got the call this morning. Having learned the hard way about not doing my due diligence,I researched the company before agreeing to anything. I thought it was odd that a publishing company would call me about an expo pushing the second book of a series I've written. Toni/Tori wanted to push my second book. She was totally unaware of the series and that I just released the 3rd book. She felt the red to tell me my books on Amazon were too expensive. I said the prices are set at what the market can bear. Thank you so much for the various comments you have posted. You have saved me a lot of money. But now they won't stop calling! Michelle F.Santos

Just received a call from Litfire. Wanted to put my book in the Chicago show. My book is very technical and targets a small market. Thanks to the previous posts I will not be doing business with this group. Thanks and keep up the good work.

Litfire employees were terminated employees from AS due to fraudulent sales tactics. Wrong expectation setting, dishonesty and any form of fraud is a grave offense in AS. Thus, I wasn't surprise of the comments written here.

I was just contacted by them as well and got them down to a very reasonable price for the London Book Fair. So here's my question. Does anybody know what will happen if I do take it? Will they carry out their end and highlight it at the book fair? If so would that be so bad if I'm there for a percentage of the cost to go? I read all the reviews and I'm sure it's not all as good as they said, but I wonder what will happen? JW

Many companies offer to showcase books at book fairs for a fee. Regardless of any other perks involved, your book's presence at the fair is likely to be a listing in a catalog that sits on a table in the company's booth, or, if you provide a book for physical display, a slot on a rack in the company's booth. That's the extent of the highlighting you will receive. Companies like LitFire exist solely to sell services to authors. They don't have connections in the publishing world, and they are not capable of selling rights. Your "presence" at the book fair won't benefit you--it will, however, help to line LitFire's pockets.

I looked at the LitFire website. I couldn't find anything about the London Book Fair, but they are pitching the Bologna Children's Book Fair, with a set of insanely overpriced packages (and numerous grammatical mistakes). Don't fall for this. Save your money.

LitFire provides a report, with pictures, on the Guadalajara International Book Fair (so apparently they do attend). Interestingly, all three authors mentioned in the report were originally published by imprints of Author Solutions. Looks like LitFire is still biting the hand of its staff's former overlord.

Amen to that.These pictures on your screen grabs are not even them, who knows from who they took these pictures from. Portia got terminated from AS due to fraudulent transactions, Gary for overpromising and misrepresentation. At least AS is a legitimate one, Litfire is a total ripoff! Trust me on this.

"At that point, Carson wasn't able to write the full story on paper, but he shared his ideas with his classmates, who helped him flesh out the story and illustrate it. Watkins shared the finished story, complete with a conflict resolution between Barky and the monster, on social media.

That got the attention of LitFire Publishing, and now "Barky the Mouse" is a full-fledged paperback book."

LitFire's business may be legit somehow but they're still lying to their clients. An author friend recommended me to LitFire and I tried to go to their office in Atlanta to meet with them personally (w/o contacting them 1st) but it was empty. Maybe they are based somewhere else and are lying about it.

Lit Fire and their overpriced services! Not really worth it. Gary Norman is such a smooth talking scammer too. Also found out his real name is Joe de Real and hes from the Philippines. Don't even get me started on their manager Mary who's real name is Maribel Silvero Famat. I'm a very good researcher and found out all this from digging. I have known for a while but only got to speak out now. So does this mean Lit Fire is based in the Philippines? If so why are they lying about it? Are they considered as scam?

Thank you for posting this comment. I have been contacted by Mark and he constantly emails me to contact him. I have been caught by various of these schemes, needless to say, spent thousands and never even received one "bite" on my book. frustrating.

My publicist(Rosie Moreland) spoke to a "Michelle" today about my book, "Awaken Your Dreams: 6 steps to achieving your goals", being featured in the Frankfurt Book Fair enough in September. She needed $1800 from us though...

Here is my message from "Erwan Gomez" about my book "Divine Forgiveness"

Hi Dr. Russell,

Hope this email finds you well.

I called the number --- and spoke to the nice lady who provided me this email address.

One of our professional book scouts found, read and recommended your book. This email is your invitation for the Frankfurt International Book Fair. The book expo only happens once a year and getting an invite would not come by that often. This is a big opportunity you cannot miss and we will bring your book to the fair and take it directly to where the book right buyers, traditional publishers, agents, producers, directors, movie producers, media, and others can see your book. That's where you can potentially have your book published/acquired by a Traditional Publishing House.

One of the great benefits in joining a trade show is that it levels the playing field. From unknown to popular authors, everyone is equal. Even new and unknown authors can get attention from influential people and decision-makers from big traditional publishing houses. I have attached the proposal in this email.

I am looking forward to speaking with you and signing you up to this exhibit. I don’t want you to miss this chance as we see great potential in the international market. I believe that this is the right time for you and your book to join the international scene. This is your moment, claim it!

Let me know if you have any questions or clarifications. I will be more than willing to help. By the way, I would like to share this link with you. These kids were our beneficiary as we want to help future authors make their dream come true. They have just published their book titled Barky The Mouse. Please click on this link: http://www.13wmaz.com/news/elementary-authors-at-shirley-hills-elementary/97159058

I am very glad I stumbled upon this website. I have learned not to trust many people in this industry.

All of these comments I have read track exactly with my conversation with LitFire today. They are obviously good researchers, because they knew a lot about my book and my previous small publisher, and they even called me at an old land line phone number that I don't share with anyone and I never actually use. I only answered it because the call came in on my cell phone first and I thought it was something important when it rang the land line almost immediately. And it WAS important, but strictly for further education on the pitfalls of publishing.

The man I spoke with was obviously not a native English speaker. There is nothing wrong with that, but the buzz of conversations I could hear in the background made me wonder if this was an overseas operation or at least a bullpen where people are working the phones hard to generate business. That alone is reason to be skeptical.

Regarding my previous small publisher, the man at LitFire knew enough about the publisher's contracts to let me know that they are probably trolling the small publisher's title list and looking for authors of three-year-old books that are ripe to be plucked and plumped with promises of finally breaking into the big time.

No thanks. I've spent enough money in a crowded book market already. No ego stroking will cause me to spend more.

A Litfire employee began calling a few months back claiming that a book scout noticed and highly-recommened a book we already have been self-publishing and selling (for years). He left his name, with no company affiliation, and stated that he wanted to talk to us about taking our book, under their company, to a big publishers convention next spring. This employee named himself and left a phone number and extension.

We didn't return his call.

This didn't stop his enthusiasm. He continued to call, pretty much, daily. Sometimes twice a day. I once answered and told him that we had received his message and that IF WE WERE INTERESTED we would CALL HIM. (hint, hint). Less than a week later, the calls resumed - pretty much daily, sometimes twice a day. Finally, after almost three months, he left a company name - LITFIRE PUBLISHING.

So I went hunting and found many a such complaint and I noticed that folks aren't comfortable with this company. Well, we certainly won't be dealing with them. They should "get a clue" and STOP CALLING. In my humble opinion, no legitimate publisher will HARASS people via cold calls. So, fellow authors BEWARE and BE AWARE.

Thank you, Victoria Strauss.

Sincerely,A fellow author and familyWho are SO TIRED of the stupid, seemingly endless --- and unreturned --- phone calls and messages.

Notice:Victoria Strauss post was November 7, 2014We are posting this June 24, 2016

Adding linkage to K.C. Pineda's Ripoff Report. "I was told that my book was very interesting and that they had read it she then proceeded to say that it had a great story to it. when I asked if she enjoyed the dancing firefighters scene, she then proceeded to say yes that was a great scene. Guess what there are no dancing firefighters in my book. So obviously full of crap."

Got a call from Litfire today praising the book I wrote. they read it from 'cover to cover'. Right... Scammers suck off of EVERYONE and Everything! What kind of crooked world are we living in. Get a real job. Make an honest living. Good grief. This is the information I got out of her: Her name was Cherry Rosen from Litfire publishing1-800-511-9787 ext 8099(Very broken English)Hang up and Run.

I've just had my call from LitFire. I knew something was up when she referenced the second book in my series with no apart knowledge of the first. When I asked basic questions about LitFire, I got virtually no answer. If you can't even describe your company (or my novels), what can you be but a scam?

Got a call from "Luis Chandler" today from Litfire - same story ... broken English, sounded Asian or from Philippines. There was the same big tale of "book scouts" being very excited about my book. He said book scouts only recommended 3 books total during the whole month of August so being recommended was a 'very big deal'. He wanted me to transfer from my existing publishing company to them with promises that they could do a much better job to market my book. But when asked specifics of exactly how they would do a better job, I got very broken, indirect, disjointed answers about some International book fair in Guadalajara and other locations such as Frankfort. He also talked about Author House (which is not the company I published through) saying it was a sister-company of my publisher. I haven't found any evidence of that being true. When I asked what they would do for me that my current publisher was not already doing, he never really answered the question directly. Interestingly, "Luis" also kept saying "oh, hold on, my manager is really excited about this and wants me to ask you if .... " - LOL, this is huge used car sales tactic. He kept referencing Cami Onolfo as an example of one of their amazing "success stories" of someone who was not getting what they really needed for marketing and promotion from their existing self-publishing company, but after signing with Litfire she became a huge success. I looked her name up on Amazon and found a book (see for yourself), but she barely shows up on a Google search at all. He told me that after years of no success on her book, she had transferred her book to Litfire and it had been picked up by a big traditional publisher quickly because they had an "in" with the big publishing companies. The price to switch over was $599 because they had contacted me instead of me soliciting them (discounted from $1400). I asked what's in it for them to market my book to traditional publishers. It seems if they want to publish my book because they think it is good enough for them to make $$$ on with better marketing, but then also want to promote my book to a traditional publisher where they will no longer make $$$ on it, it seems like a conflict of interest to me and it makes no sense at all. He never really answered the question. He strangely kept asking if I had my manuscript in .pdf or if I still had the original version. Now, he has sent lots of emails with attachments for contracts and such. I am now curious if there would be anyway for them to troll to find my typed manuscript if I download the attachment. Would my book show up somewhere in the Philippines under a different title ... crazy conspiracy, but this is strange. Anyway, sharing my story to add to the ongoing saga in hope that it might help someone else not get taken advantage of. What a waste of my day :(

I am so glad I found this commentpage. I had called xlibris my publisher for me firstbook called "Fairy TaleTo Murder" which was published in 3/2016. It is my first book written and self published through Xlibris. They passed my information onto Lif Fire. So as I figured Xlibris and Lit Fire are one in the same!!!!!. I think Xlibris is a scam too. I took for the full 100 % royalty program and since April only 13 books have been sold on line. That is through Barnes & Noble, Xlibris and Amazon. I know they are one in the same. Today I was asked to spend $2,190.00 for the 3 book fares in Europe which is mentioned above. They wated a signed agreement to take $220 today, $437 by Feb. 1 and Payments of $191.00 per month for March through Oct.! So how can we get them reported as a SCAM CO? I think Xlibris is with them and also a SCAM. I know they are selling my book on an intl market and pockeding the money and not giving it to me. Liffire would do the same as they work on the same principal. Please contact me at rivercruiser40@gmail if you do know how I can sell my book PLEASE! My pen name is Satin Maize.

Write your own press releases, and don't pay anyone to print up bookmarks or cards that you can print yourself at your price, not a stranger's price. If you can write a book, you can promote your book free yourself. I'm so tired of aggressive sales pressue folks of any promotion and publicity businesses cold-calling me offering services for big bucks on books published many, many years ago, and oh, so outdated and obsolete. Not interested...at all. As for other authors publishing p.o.d. or self-published books in this decade. Research those you deal with whomever they may be:

Check out the BBB Complaints website for the company that cold-calls and/or emails authors--instead of letting authors control who contacts who, only if needed:

I gave litfire $1400. to publish my book of poetry.when I found out it was a scam, I went to the bank to retrieve my ''protected credit'' They envestigated l.f. and said they could not find anything ,so I lost my money. At first I contacted a co. out of nyc. and l.f.just butted in and took over like they were my orig. source. Now there is nothing.

I am being harassed by "Kate Avila" from Litfire. I have no idea how she got my non-published/non-listed phone number or newer email. I have a hunch that the Litfire rep got my info from my contact with AuthorHouse (AH). It is my experience that both publishing companies are scams. In regard to Litfire, the remaining paragraphs are dedicated to that. If you don't care to know about AH, please skip to the next paragraph. I believe AH is a scam because I have never received any commission checks beyond one check the first year I published with them in 2008 (a measly check for under $20, although tons of used copies of my book are being sold all over the world on Amazon, and other sites). In addition, I had talked with five "different people" in the same week at AH, who all had different names, titles, and extension numbers, but were the same exact voice, Asian accent, and tone. I had even asked to be transferred to one of the other depts/rep I was working with, so I could hear both voices within the same minute, and they were identical. I called the rep out on it, and I never heard from her again. They all had common non-Asian names such as "Kate." Ironically, that is also the name of the Litfire rep that is hounding me.

The first red flag for me that Litfire is a scam was how unprofessional the rep was. She raved about my book, but never read it, even though my children's book could be read by an adult in just minutes. She also kept calling my book by the wrong title. I also received unprofessional, grammatically incorrect emails that couldn't possibly come from a legitimate publishing company...definitely from someone in which English is their second language.

Every time she calls me, different names come up on the caller ID, with one being Airespring, which is a telecom company, which I have already informed them about this matter. Of course, "unavailable"/"private" are others...but NEVER Litfire. I am a business owner, and my company name comes up on the caller ID when I call a client. Why would a legitimate company not have their company name show up on a caller ID?

Further, she calls me daily from morning to night. She doesn't just call once and leave a voice mail and wait for my return call. She calls 3-4 times in a row EVERY TIME if I let the voice mail get the call. She literally hangs up and immediately redials several times in a row. Even when I told her that she needed to call me back on Friday....She called Tues., Wed., and Thurs. over and over from AM to PM. When I finally answered the phone and reminded her that I told her to call me Friday (so why is she calling me on Wednesday), she gave me some BS that they were trying to close out their 2nd quarter books going to publication. She was trying to pressure me to make an immediate decision to fork over my $599. I told her, in that case, that I would have to pass, she said she would call me back Friday and I didn't have to do it today.

One other red flag was during our initial conversation, she told me she was emailing me a picture of the owner of the company and some staff members. It was like she had to give me evidence that they are a legitimate company. I have never, as a business owner, told a prospect that I was emailing them a picture of my staff and me. It wouldn't even cross my mind to do that. One would only think of that if they are trying to convince someone that they are a legitimate company. Prior to owning a business, I was a Business Development Manager. I have never called a client over and over day after day when they gave me a call-back date. There is such a thing as being an aggressive rep, but calling 3-4 times in a row (within a minute) five times a day, totaling 15-20 calls per day...day after day is just harassment. There is something very wrong with this company! I have already been taken for thousands of dollars by AH, I will not fall into this trap again with LitFire, and I hope you won't either!

You really don't need to read further than "we have learned how to succeed and soar" to figure out they're a scam. How could a company that worked with writers for all those years come up with such a lame line?

I too received the email, followed by a call. Scouts, big promotions, and grab on of the last 4 spots at the Frankfort Show. When I called Ryan back with questions, he had only one spot left. Interesting. I made the mistake of getting caught up in his rush to sign me (I just happen to be shopping for a publishing company) that I gave them a down payment. Additional calls to the company and I realized I was either speaking to the same family or was calling a call center in another country. Everyone sounded the same.

Now I'm trying to get my money back. Of course they're giving me the run around. Lesson learned.

Last evening I received a call from Michele, who said Litfire Publishing wanted to "showcase" my historical novel at the June American Library Association Conference. Lucky for me the call went to voicemail, and I had time to research Litfire. After reading this blog and learning what a farce Litfire is, I won't be returning Michele's call. Thank you for this service.

I was contacted yesterday by phone (didn't get the name) by them (LitFire) to be allegedly represented by them at the Frankfurt book fair. When I asked in what role since they are neither my agents nor my publishers they said that will send me all the information by mail, which they never did! i presume it is because I was clear that I am not paying anything in advance only agent's commission if we sign the contract.Maya

Thanks for this information. I just received an email from one Gabrien Mace, a 'Senior Marketing and Publishing Consultant' at LitFire. He's supposedly interested in some book I wrote years ago. That alone sent up red flags, but when I checked your site, I knew for sure it was a scam.

I must admit I was excited when a LitFire representative (Amanda Lane) called me yesterday saying that my book has been selected by a "literary agent" out of 50 titles as a potential bestseller and they want to re-publsih my book. I asked her several times about how they found me or who referred my book and she always changed the subject. I know the value of my book is huge so I believed her and was considering the package offered. Thank you for these posts and reality check about LitFire!

Thanks -- just talked to one of the agents from LitFire -- told him I wasn't interested and hung up after listening to his sales pitch for several minutes. Now he has my phone number and will probably harass me! Thanks for the information.

I received a message from "Neal" on my landline. He recited the title of my first book, the publisher and publishing date. He said that a "literary agent" had recommended it and that his company would like to promote it. I smelled scam at once and found your website to confirm my suspicions. I suspect that anyone who has created a book, piece of artwork or a song feels like that they are just a step away from fame and may be lured by this scheme. I never expected that to happen, have maybe sold a hundred copies and am grateful for two nice reviews from strangers on Amazon. "Neal" has called back twice. He will give up eventually.

I have attended the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2016 and they gave me the assistance that I need. I assume these people talking bad things about LitFire are people who didn't even tried getting their service. Don't be unfair to a company who's trying to help you with your book.

If you have nothing good to say, better not say anything at all. We are Authors, we all know that there are always people we can't please.

I republished one of my books with LitFire and everything seems legit. I contacted the Better Business Bureau, and they are registered. My Book is with them and they are doing great Marketing campaigns for my book. I find it timely to post my thoughts here because I've heard a lot about this Victoria Strauss and her Team trying to bring down publishing companies, not just LitFire, because they are promoting and building their own. Such a bad Marketing to start with.

I got an email today soliciting me to provide book reviews for LitFire materials, which seemed *almost* legit until I googled "LitFire" and the results immediately gave me "LitFire scam".

I'm pretty sure I received the solicitation because I'm on the listserv for my state's library association, so let your library and bookstore owner folks know about this too. LitFire has a 5-star Better Business Bureau rating but that doesn't mean anything, those ratings are literally bought.

I was just approached via my wife's cell phone by Lit Fire's agent, "Adele Porter" who stated she was following up on an earlier email from a week ago. Strange, I couldn't remember or find the said email, even in my trash and spam folders. She proceeded to praise my book and wanted to include it for the World Book Expo in Beijing. I was flattered. We talked more while I attempted to research LF on the internet. I told her I was retired, on a fixed income and didn't have the funds necessary to float such marketing techniques at the current time, BUT, if she wanted, to send me the information and I'd look it over. It has been over 3 hours and still no email. I have since found several LF notices on the internet and am glad I wasn't suckered in. I should remember - if they come looking for you, trust your gut, you're not that big of fish in the pond - you're being baited, so don't swallow the hook, line and sinker. RUN! And, to think, I was getting the discounted price of a mere $1300 for a $2900 package to get my foot in the international book marketing waters. NOT!! She thought she had hit big time when she discovered I had more than ONE book published on Amazon. I'm using my real name, this is an actual/factual event. Remember, If the offer is too good to believe, it probably isn't an offer you want to pursue.

Thanks very much. With one quick Google you allowed me to confirmed what I already reasonably sure of when my daughter passed me their contact info after they mistakenly called her. Evidently they traced an old phone number for me off the web as I don't give out phone numbers.

I received a call yesterday from Litfire. The caller purported to know all about the children's book I wrote. I was busy at work and told her to send me an email, and we would talk later. Thank goodness I got that email because the grammar was so poor that I knew instantly that this company was a scam. I could never send out such a poorly written document and call myself a professional, and yet her title is "Senior Marketing and Publishing Consultant." Elizabeth Hebert

Thank you for this post. I received the same this week. A book fair in Atlanta. Thank goodness, I did not go further.....from Kelly Summers at Litfire:Dear Mr. Truth Atkins,(butchered my name)

I tried contacting you via phone today but was only able to leave a voice message. I am Kelly Summers, a Publishing and Marketing Consultant from LitFire Publishing.

We started out as a digital book publisher in 2008. Having collaborated with over 50 publishing partners to produce hundreds of electronic titles and make our mark in the eBook market, we expanded our services to offer self-publishing solutions in 2014.

Fast forward to today, we are one of the leading self-publishing services providers in the industry with over 800 titles published and over a thousand titles assisted with book marketing and promotion. As you may have noted, we have promoted more books than we have published. This is because our book marketing and promotion services also cater to titles published by other publishers, just like your book entitled LoveLocked.

Our website lists all your marketing options and I’d be happy to walk you through them. Let me help you determine the services you need to boost your title’s presence in the book buying market. Please respond with your most convenient time for me to call so we can begin your marketing journey. In the meantime, do visit our website at www.litfirepublishing.com and take note of the services you’d like to learn more about when we get on the phone.

Today, having already received 5 calls from "Nancy Andrus" of ALD-AireSpring" (the name on my caller ID, I found this website where I'm learning a lot about cold-call publishers/marketers. There seems to be no separate entity of "ALD" with Airespring on webpages during a Google search. She wanted to republish my 2011 award-winning book with a new cover for "only" $500. I told her I was already disappointed in my current publisher who insisted the price per copy be listed as $28.95, a figure she repeated would be used by her services BUT that my royalty would go up to $17 per book [insert: in your dreams, woman]. I will be adding her number to my spam blocker equipment so that further calls will be stopped at first ring. -- Several of the bloggers on this site have been contacted by LitFire, which has numerous GOOGLE hits for a real-storefront office in a strip mall with a Kroger. They probably have that allusion to being a 'real' company. But based on what I have read of your experiences, I am not interested in them or anyone else. And I love my book's cover as-is. --- Gayle Haffner, HANDS With a HEART: The Personal Biography of Actress ZaSu Pitts c.2011

If you want to keep consumers informed about this company, I highly suggest filing a complaint, review, or both at: https://www.bbb.org/atlanta/business-reviews/publishers-book/litfire-publishing-in-atlanta-ga-27587568/reviews-and-complaints

I just received an email from an individual called Erwan Gomez regarding one of my novels, Carn Mo'r, which is quite unusual, as it is one of my lesser known novels, and one I give away for free on Wattpad. I have decided to write back and tell him he had better have a lot of money in his pocket if he wants to publish it; that should scare them off. I am quite a well established independent author, please don't fall for these scams. Work hard,take advantage of any free marketing resource you can find. There are plenty diligent hard working people out there who will help you get your work up to a high level of professionalism, and it won't cost the world to do either. If your book is good, it will sell itself. It may take a few years to get established, but you will build up a hardcore of faithful readers. If you are brilliant, mainstream publishers will get in touch with you. Be patient, don't fall for scams. J W Murison

They are still at it. Just received a message from a Scott Nelson 1-800-511-9787 ext. 8209 if you'd like to call him and say hello. In the message he stated a "book scout" had seen my book and they were interested in making me an offer. Ironically, in the message the name Litfire was inaudible. I got the name of the publishing company after calling the 800 number. I never asked to speak to Scott, my bad...

I got a call from Litfire Publishing that they wanted $150 to get me signed up for media and I wanted to research their company. I just read this page and thanks to alot of comments, I will not send my money. I don't know how they got my phone number but a lady called me out the blue about my book. I'm on disability and don't have a job and you guys want to use people like that. How dare you? Somebody need to close this business down.

Still at it. Got a cold call this morning from a LitFire rep. My book is small press published. I think they may just be trolling amazon at this point looking for potential "clients." Wanted to "display" it at the Miami book fair in November. The guy clearly had a script that he was supposed to be reading from because he kept screwing up, saying "sorry", and starting his speech over again. I must have got the LitFire trainee. My caller ID showed a 404 number.

Thank you all for continuing to keep us updated on these scammers. I spent my own time, my own research efforts, my own expense to research and then publish my book, and I'm not about to give book rights away to some 'sweet talkers' who want to do me a favor. -- When I do get such callers on the line, I advise them that what they are doing is illegal and they are going to jail. I keep repeating that same response until they hang up. Serves them right.

Having been bilked by a vanity press before, my bullshit-meter for scams like this are now a lot more finely attuned than when I first started out. It amazes me that people actually fall for this. I'm glad pages like this to warn the unwary.

I got two calls on my voicemail today from LitFire Publishing and figured it was a scam. But in the interest of shutting down more calls, I did call someone named Jade Young back. She wanted my email so she could send me a proposal. I asked what she had in mind. It was a short radio interview that would play at night and a press release. I asked for an estimate cost and it was $1500. That was all I needed to hear and said no. Later today I received an email from Jade Young, anyway, but she didn't fill in the places like author name or book title in the text. Pretty sloppy scamming! It went straight into my scamming folder, too. I had been approached several times by a company called Reader's Magnet and another Phillipino- sounding woman named Toni Rose and wondered if there could be a connection. This whole fake marketing scam makes me really angry. I've self-published three books and could use some real marketing help, not this greedy, malicious over-the-phone soliciting. If you're young and truly need help, this would be tempting, I suppose. Keep your distance from this group, and others like it.

They are contacting me by phone and I've told them I'm signed with another publisher and they won't stop. Now they are saying they want to get me on a radio show called America Tonight Show with Kate Delaney and I know for a fact she has a radio snow with NBC Sports far cry from books. Alexander Brown is calling me from LitFire 404- 267-0877 ext 8218 and he always references my eBook Small Town Romance which is a short story. I've told him all my books are under Wild Dreams Publishing and he has been harassing me for like a year.

That kind of relentless sales harassment is right out of the Author Solutions playbook (LitFire was set up by ex-Author Solutions call center employees in the Philippines). As long as you talk to them, they have the hope of persuading you, so the best thing you can do is to ignore them as best you can.

Do you have Caller ID? If so, just don't answer when they call. Or if they're calling you on your cell, block the number.

I just got a call from Amanda at Litfire about a linguistics book I published in 2011. She promised me that I was going to get rich for the sale of a book that is so specialized that not more than about a few hundred people worldwide would want to read it. Her narrative was too good to be true, so after we ended the call I started to search for the "publisher,"and I arrived at your blog. Thanks for warning the authors about this predator.

I'm not sure how she figures you will "make it rich" selling to "a few hundred people worldwide." Whether it be "worldwide" or just "local" - a few hundred sales won't let you quit your day job. I was told by another person, you can make a million dollars in two ways: sell a million books at $1 each or sell one book for a million dollars. He told me he is still waiting for his customer to show. LOL. Stay safe.

I've gotten a number of calls over the past couple of weeks with different individuals claiming to know about my book, but having difficulty pronouncing the title as if they were reading it off a list for the first time. (I didn't think the title was all that complicated, Calabria: The Other Italy). Just today, the person spoke clearer and it came from the number 404-476-5542, a Ben Moore who said to call him back at 800-511-9787, so I looked it up and came across this blogpost. Ben didn't identify his company so I guess he didn't want me to look them up before I excitedly returned his call...

Hi Everyone!!!I've found who these predators are!!! Litfire Publishing in the Philippines is ClickableBrand Inc. and they are located at Room 315, Ma. Cristina Bldg., Osmeña Blvd, Philippines 6000. I've received an email from a "concerned" individual about Litfire and I was thankful I didn't fall for their sales pitch lol

I received a call from them today. Until I read this blog, I had already considered it a bit fishy that they would even know I was working on a book except for the fact I bought a publishing package from Xlibris years ago and still haven't used it. I have been told multiple times that I can use that package so I certainly wouldn't buy yet another package. But this caller had an accent that would indicate it was foreign though it originated from an Atlanta, GA number. I will now place the number in my block list.

I really am at a loss for the best way to self publish if I don't use my Xlibris package, which was a pretty penny. Anyone have good experiences to share?

@Tracy. I've been using Amazon's CreateSpace and Kindle to self-publish and so far, I've not really had any issues. Simple. Straight forward. If you get stuck, they have technicians to assist (for $$, of course) but usually one can find another person who knows what to do and you can "stumble" through pretty well. BUT, if you've purchased an Xlibris package, I guess you might as well use it - you paid for it, why waste it? Good luck.

I dont know why Victoria Strauss is doing this bad blogs to other self-publishing company? I’m starting to think that maybe she’s running a self-publishing company and she’ll create a bad blog to a certain self - publishing company or to other publishing company to discourage our fellow authors not to go that publishing company so she can promote her own publishing company. Or maybe she’s being paid by some publishing company to create a bad blogs or a bad review to their competitors to discourage other authors not to go to that publishing company because of this and that. She will create negative reviews and bad blogs to other publishing company so that it’ll make that company look as a bad publishing company. Then she will tell us to publish our book to somewhere else? Or more likely she will recommend to publish our book to the company who hire her. Or she’ll tell us that she owns a self - publishing company and why not published it to her company. In my own opinion Victoria Strauss is “Playing the Game”..

Thank you so much for posting this review! I was contacted a few minutes ago by a woman whose name I did not get about a book I published ten years ago. I was leary and completely upfront with her, asking for credentials, suggesting she send an email, asking prices, etc. Her inability to be forthcoming was quite palpable. I hung up. By the way, part of her pitch was a $700 to $1000 fee for having your book at an upcoming book fair in southern California, I think at San Diego. Also, I published through IUniverse. Thanks again for this post.

Was just approached AGAIN by LitFire - this time I supposedly requested information to get in print. Huh? I'm published, several times over both via real publishers and self-published. I was polite but basically told her the information she had was wrong; I hadn't requested anything. Told her thank you and hung up.

Today is 2/15/18, and I just got a cold call from LitFire. Claimed they wanted to publish my books. I told them to contact my agent. He said I'd "keep 100% of my profits." I laughed and said "If I put X amount of dollars down first? No thanks. Call my agent."

Searched them after I hung up and found this blog. Thought I'd comment to let others know. :)

I was recently contacted by litFire about publishing a book. And the representative name was Erika, so please beware I just did research and I'm so glad that I found out in time that this company is a total scam. I'm so glad I didn't go any further with them. Thank you so much

This company will not let me alone, every morning they call me and wake me up, so far they have used at least four different phone numbers. The book they keep inquiring about was bought by Kensington several years ago and the title was changed, and it is still available, so I could not let LitFire publish it even if I wanted to, which I most certainly do not. I have told them this repeatedly and also that I am in poor health, am not currently writing, and have no books to offer them, and no money to spare, I'm really struggling right now, so PLEASE STOP CALLING AND LEAVE ME ALONE! Still they keep calling, even though I no longer answer, sometimes they even call back later in the day, if my phone rings chances are high that it's LitFire. I just want them to stop. I can't turn my phone or the volume off when I'm sleeping because I am a caregiver, and my current phone does not have a blocking feature, but I am sick of losing sleep to this company.

Hello, Brandy, sorry those jerks are still calling. About 7 months ago I bought a call blocker for my land line phone, which is the only number I ever give out. The unit was inexpensive ($30, I think) and each time I get a problem call, I enter the number into the Block Number list (unit can also take entries for ALLOW, to make sure you get calls you DO want.) My caller ID doesn't give a business name, but gives a combination of that particular phone number with a "V" in front of it. Those on the caller ID, I just go ahead to put them on the BLOCK list. When those numbers call again, they ring only once, then are cut off. I don't answer until the third ring now, for most calls. I am not much of a phone person, but have had good results from this blocker unit. It is a Sentry Active Call Blocker 3.0 ..... and I have 91 BLOCK call numbers registered. Try Amazon, ebay or maybe Radio Shack for seller of units.

@ Brandy Purdy. This is called harrassment. Threaten them with legal action if they continue to phone you. Be polite but also firm. Let them know you have no intention to deal with them and the continued phone calls are an invasion of your privacy, they are to stop and desist immediately... otherwise you will take legal action against them by calling your lawyer.

I'm not saying the calls will stop, but just maybe they'll leave you alone if you threaten them with legal action - that is ONE thing they don't want. Good luck.

I received a call from LitFire today. The rep was pushing the NYC upcoming book show. He promised me the moon for only $699 if I hurry and sign up now. I've never liked the used car salesmanship to hurry up and sign now. Reading this blog confirmed my initial gut feeling.

Just now had a phone call from them, I asked the rep on the phone to repeat what publishing company she was calling from as I did not hear it clearly when I answered the phone and she beat around the bush to even tell me the company's name. Then once she told me I typed in a google search and this was the 2nd article that came up. The rep actually hung up on me because I inquired where she was calling from.

Naive Writers very often fall for Self Publishers, primarily because there is no other outlet for them to get their manuscript published. There are some decent Self Publishers out there, but in the end it is up to the writer to market their works. Unless a writer has the right contacts, friends in the Commercial Publishing Industry, and they are there when that window of opportunity is opened, you are stuck with Self Publishing. What a writer has to look out for are the Self Publishers that "claim" your book isn't selling and they don't send you any of the royalties promised in the contract. Also beware of big conglomerates that own several Self Publishing Companies, and are even working out of the same building. If your goals are to 1; get something you wrote published and printed in book form, 2; not put you in the "Red" financially, and 3; have some fun doing it, then do your research into the Self Publishing Companies by looking at what they have published, contact some of their authors that have written material that is in the same category as your material by way of the authors websites and find out how well they have been treated by that Self Publisher. Try not to fall for any of the "Hype" the Self Publisher's Author Representative tries to push on you, settle on a low cost plan, and only purchase the amount of books that you can sell to your family and friends, with a few extras to give out as gifts. Who knows, maybe by your efforts in marketing yourself and your works you can find the "Open Window of Opportunity" and get somewhere.

me too they called me and could barely speak English and said they saw my book and I said I have 3 published thought xlibris and didn't know I had 3 books done I asked if they read them they didn't answer and they wanted to offer me a great deal of $4000 to get my book published thought them. I said xlibris has already messed up all three of my books so far, didn't do corrections then I signed and then they wanted to charge out the butt for corrections that they should have done to begin with. book 3 I had published had the back of book two on it and repeat pages they refused to fix. since 2014 ive had 9.72 in royalties (I'm not complaining I'm not pushing it) but they promise one thing and do something else and lit popped up out of no where and then disappeared once I said I wasn't willing to pay that much for a hobby. I got a call from another publishing agency I don't recall the name it was like brown something and they had the same accent as the dudes from lit publishing and they didn't even look at my book either so I'm glad I didn't get farther into it with those "companies".good luck to everyone else!

Just received a call from this company this morning woman foreign speaking if she would have said yeah okay one more time I would have hung up the phone I listen to her sales pitch since I am a first-time author they're running a special for under $400 they will publish my book and I will get 100% after publishing cost so it my book sold for $12 and it cost $3 to publishing I would make $12 per book my response Yeah sure

Like many of you, I have been contacted many times by phone from LitFire; sometimes sounding like one caller of many callers in a phone bank; all with Filipino speech accent. Now this week, the caller, again a Filipino lady, said she represented Stratton Press. And my caller-ID stated "Stratton Press" on the LED screen. I did not pursue a conversation with this caller. Later I Googled "Stratton Press" and found a legit-style web-page with USA HQ in Wyoming. On that same webpage, it also gives an address for its own office in the Philippines. --- Does anyone here have any experience with Stratton, or been contacted by them? -

See my recent blog post on the large number of publishing services companies that, like LitFire, have both Philippine and Author Solutions connections: https://accrispin.blogspot.com/2018/01/army-of-clones-author-solutions-spawns.html. Stratton Press is one of these, and shares a number of the distinctive characteristics of these services: aggressive solicitation (often of authors who published with Author Solutions imprints), re-publication offers, bad English, and an emphasis on junk marketing (which is where these outfits really make their money). The Wyoming business registration is a smokescreen.

Over the past 2 months I've been contacted by at least 4 different so-called marketing companies. Litfire was the most recent. After reading many of the post and blogs it seems that they got my name from one of the many publishing companies affiliated with Authorhouse. One company wanted to represent me at 3 different book fairs around the world. Litfire wants to represent me at a book fair in Frankfurt. He boasted about his company but I said I wanted to see a contract. I did receive a contract but have not read read it yet because I'm really not interested. It seems that this is just the latest scam to take advantage of the many authors that publish their book years ago. It's really a shame because they are simply playing on these authors emotions in hopes that their book will sell more copies. My Litfire rep even said he wanted to see my book become a movie. However, he has never even read it. That was a bit over the top in my opinion. I would say to stay away from these companies.

I got a call today offering the world saying I needed them to provide. They claimed book scouts told them about me because they were so impressed with my book and so on. Things like this are the reason I started a writer's group locally and on line. It is so sad places and people like this exploit others.

Thank-you, Thank-you for putting this online! They called my husband today about a book he wrote that has never sold in five years on Amazon. I'm not surprised- he's a bad writer. Also one of those people who are very gullible. He was ready to give them $400, until I showed him your blog article about Litfire. God bless you for keeping him from throwing away the money.

I just got a call from them today wondering if my manuscript was ready and they'd be willing to help me publish it. I'm not even writing a book. I pressed her on how they got my name and she finally said that I probably searched online for "how to publish a book" or something like that. She said that's how they find people. I probably did search something to that effect, since I plan to write a book someday, but I find it laughable that she encouraged me to look up Litfire's website right away while I was on the phone with her. Googling it produced a link to their website and a bunch of "Beware of Litfire" posts. Not a good marketing strategy for Litfire.

So glad I kept them on the line long enough to google them and find this. I asked repeatedly how they got my phone number, but he kept reading his script. I can't believe how long he stayed on the line with me before I finally told him to remove my phone number from their call list.

I have a friend, Filipino, who is also published as am I. She has published twice and she has learned that a Filipino group has a phone bank, possibly in the USA, using several publisher names; that these people are trying with all their might to make a living. Well, hello --- I do, too. And a right to how much time and attention I give to unwanted phone calls. Just say 'not interested' and hang up, even if they are still giving you their sales pitch. Don't be afraid to politely hand up the phone.

I got a call about a book I wrote that does not exist because I am not even an author LOL. Thank you so much for this post. I made sure to call them back and I told them to never contact me ever in the future and to delete all information they may have on me.

Thank you very much for your original posting, and as I'm getting more savvy myself, I looked up LitFire after having discovered all kinds of voicemails on my phone. Thank you for saving us, me, from that scam. Well done!

I have received several calls over the past few days from LitFire and am so glad this came up when I did some digging! I was surprised that it's been at it for so long, but figured I could let you know they're still at it. Thanks for helping me avoid that!

A little research... Here's a BBB on them.https://www.bbb.org/us/ga/atlanta/profile/publishers-book/litfire-publishing-llc-0443-27587568It lists Ms. Melissa Gubler as the "Business Management" - for what that's worth.

What I find amazing - LitFire has an A+ rating w/ 5 reviews yet there are 15 complaints. To mean that means, you can be standing in s**t up to your nose, but as long as nobody says it stinks as a review, everything is a-ok. Complain all you want - nothing done. Give a bad review, that might dampen things. Suddenly I now question the validity of BBB.

I'm quite sure there is no such person as "Melissa Gubler." Also note that the website the BBB lists on its LitFire page is the wrong one.

LitFire has signed up for the BBB's Accredited Business program, which gets you an A+ by default. All they have to do to maintain it is to respond to complaints. It's only if they ignore the complaints, or resolve too few of them to the complainant's satisfaction, that their rating goes down. I've seen disreputable businesses with hundreds of complaints but good BBB ratings because the complaints were spread out over time and the business was careful to be responsive. That's why a good BBB rating really means very little, while a bad one is worth taking into account.

LITEFIRE'S CLAIMS AND PROMISES WERE FALSE FOR ME. THEY TOOK ME FOR SEVERAL HUNDRED DOLLARS TO COVER THEIR SERVICES AT A BOOKFAIR IN FRANKFURT GERMANY ON OCTOBER 10-14TH, 2018. THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT I CAN FIND THAT THEY EVEN BOUGHT MY BOOK, A REQUIREMENT IN ORDER FOR IT TO BE DISPLAYED THERE. TO DATE, NOT ONE BOOK HAS SOLD AS A RESULT. THE ONLY CONCLUSION I CAN DRAW FROM THE EVIDENCE TO DATE IS THAT THIS IS A FRAUDULENT OUTFIT. MY RECOMMENDATION IS TO AVOID DOING BUSINESS WITH THEM, PERIOD!

LITFIRE IS A FRAUD, BASED ON FACTS. THE COMPANY TOOK ME FOR SEVEAL HUNDRED DOLLARS TO PAY FOR SERVICES THEY PROMISED AT A BOOKFAIR IN FRANKFURT, GERMANY IN MID OCTOBER, 2018. NOT ONE BOOK SOLD, TO DATE, FROM THAT BOOKFAIR, AND THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT I CAN FIND THAT THE BOOK WAS EVEN ON DISPLAY THERE.

Just wanted to leave a quick note to say thanks for all the work you all do on this site. Over the last few years, I have self-published 2 novels, and constantly get a barrage of emails from "agents" promising amazing marketing to get my books out there. Although always tempting (because us writers have big dreams), I always take the time to research. Without sites like yours, many of us would be in the dark. It's not past me or any other writer that the work on this site takes great effort, with seemingly little reward. Just know it's appreciated. R.P.

Victoria is such a loser. You should go back to College and take up marketing or a business course to make your Own Publishing business grow and not destroy other companies. You embrace the idea of a dog-eat-dog world principle. Why destroy other publishing companies? You should be smart enough that all companies are accredited with the Better Business Bureau...If authors are complaining, there are mature and logical steps to fix it. How about the success stories of each company? Not all are bad services... Authors should know that there are millions of great books. . We should let them know that advertising works and you really need to market books since publishing is a very competitive industry. You are an abomination to the Publishing industry. Destroying others just to put your Own company on a higher level. What a shame...Karma is a bitch. I can't imagine if you can sleep at night and you embrace the idea of destroying a company for your own good... Educate yourself... Go back to College ... Publishing is not easy... The market is tough... Any company will not wish bad experience to writers... Poor you, if you can't help others,don't spread negativity �� What a shame...Companies had assisted many clients. . .Don't think you know everything...you are not even from Harvard or Duke University... Go to Hell... FYI, there are many US brands which do have satellite offices in the Philippines and Asia such as Chase bank, Amazon, Google, Sprint, Hewlett-Packard, Apple, American Express, Xbox, etc. You are a racist and stupid. Go back to College and learn the basics of marketing and business. What a shame�� It is never a great business strategy to destroy others just so you can have some dollars in your your pocket. What a loser ��

Shut up...Go to hell Victoria....I understand you need MONEY that is why you are trying to bring down even Random House and Penguin....I used to work with them here in Cebu...poor you... you can't play fair....HAHAHA...how many authors actually did you bring to Random House? none...I am from the Philippines and I have assisted many Americans and were happy ...Unlike you, you are a RACIST...Come here in the Philippines I will give you a HOT guy...you seem so dry... no love life maybe that is why you are BITTER....Can't seem to get clients and that is why you are into the principle of DISPARAGING satellite offices in the PHILIPPINES coz you are BROKE as HELL....IF your group is honest, file a case and be mature enough to bring it to the court. My uncle is a LAWYER in the Philippines...you should know the rules....You are an abomination to humanity and to the Publishing Industry...HAHAHA. Go and get a degree and learn the industry...I think it boils down if you can even pass the test to different famous schools in the USA....like Harvard or New York University...hahaha and By the way, I have friends working with CHase bank in the Philippines... I have assisted thousands of smart americans and they understand marketing and the PUblishing challenges...What a SHAME....FYI...Catriona Gray is from the Philippines and she knows that Philippines is a place of smart and responsible Filipinos...Don't you ever go to Cebu, Philippines coz if I see you, I will buy a hot Starbucks coffee and hurl it to your Effin face....Hypocrite!!!! You try to bring down business down like Random House, AuthourHouse, Stratton Press, Okir Publishing, Stonewall Press, Litfire, iUniverse, Xlibris, and a lot more...

And to the person who made the comment: Don't mind them, Victoria. I'm from the Philippines and these kind of people only bring shame to the Philippines. A quick Google search reveals they're located in Cebu, Philippines.

***You are an abomination to the Philippines ULOL KA....hahaha you don't even have decades of experience in the BPO and Publishing industry...hahah I have been in the business for years now so I know how it works...such a shame....

To all Americans, you should know that Publishing is not for the weak...It is a tough competition...Such a fucking loser Victoria...Try to find a lover so you will have a better life...you are a HYPOCRITE....Stupid and a loser!!!!

LitFire is ClickableBrand Inc. and they're located in Room 315, Ma. Cristina Bldg., Osmeña Blvd, Lungsod ng Cebu 6000 Lalawigan ng Cebu.Their Facebook page is https://m.facebook.com/Clickablebrand.Inc/.According to their page, they are foreign-owned internet marketing and book publishing company based in Fuente Osmeña, Cebu City.They're not really foreign-owned. They're owned and managed by Filipinos. I hope this helps, Victoria.